The present invention is related to beverage dispensers and more particularly to beverage dispensers that dispense beverages made from a syrup concentrate.
The numbers of beverage dispensers used in restaurants are significant and growing steadily, particularly with the increase of rapid food industries. Beverage dispensers are intended to facilitate the expeditious service required in the restaurant industry. Indeed, the customer is often invited to dispense directly his or her own drink into a container placed under the spout or nozzle of the dispenser. Such beverage dispensers can be categorized into two types: carbonated and non-carbonated beverage dispensers.
Carbonated drink beverage dispensers typically are formulated from a syrup which is mixed with a chilled carbonated water held under pressure. The non-refrigerated syrup is pumped from a location outside of the dispenser housing to a mixing and dispensing nozzle to be mixed with a predetermined quantity of chilled carbonated water. Some of the mixing occurs as the two liquids are actually discharged into a container. The syrup itself is frequently contained in a flexible bag and placed in a rigid container where the liquid is metered out of the bag by a pump upon demand. No mixing of the syrup and water occurs unless a drink is required and the amount mixed is only that required to satisfy the immediate need.
Non-carbonated dispensers are frequently characterized as "juice" dispensers and pre-mix dispensers. The former dispenses a beverage formulated from a thick, viscous concentrate and water under significant pressure and mixed thoroughly in a mixing chamber before being dispensed. The latter uses a refrigerated tank for holding the ready-to-drink beverage that is to be directly dispensed without further mixing. The pre-mix dispensers typically handle the popular beverages that are made from a powder and mixed with a requisite amount of water to form the beverage. It is the pre-mix dispenser that is the focus of the ensuing discussion.
Non-carbonated beverages may be formulated at the manufacturer, shipped directly to the serving establishment in large containers, and then distributed as needed directly into the into the individual dispenser holding containers. However, the large costs resulting from such shipments, primarily due to the weight of the water constituent of the beverage, have caused the beverage manufacturers to transfer the responsibility of adding water to complete the formulation of water to the employees of the beverage dispensing establishment. This permits the manufacturer to ship a syrup concentrate or powder to the establishments, avoiding the weight of the water. While this procedure does reduce shipping costs, it does expand the employee work load and, more importantly, increases the handling of the beverage constituents by employees on premise. The employees must measure, pour and transfer the formulated beverage to the dispenser. The added handling by the employees clearly increases the probability for errors to occur in the formulation of the beverage, distorting taste, or for adulteration of the beverage itself from contaminants or bacteria.
Non-carbonated pre-mix beverage dispensers located in restaurants require frequent replenishment during heavy use hours, posing a problem to management since the work required to replenish the dispenser is at the expense of other needed services of the employees. Hastily formulated beverages made by harried employees are more likely to have been formulated improperly or to have created hygiene problems. Moreover, the dispenser may also be rendered unusable for a period of time since the beverage added to the tank is initially at room temperature. Cooling of a large beverage holding tank often requires up to two hours or more of down time for that dispenser until the beverage is cooled to a desired serving temperature. The length of down time is exacerbated if the ambient temperature is high, for example in summer or tropical/desert regions.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide for a drink dispensing system having a housed syrup container and a chilled water supply from which a chilled beverage can be obtained upon demand. It is another object of the present invention to provide for a drink dispensing system that largely avoids the hygiene problems associated with the pre-mix beverage dispensing systems of the prior art. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a drink dispensing system in which the down time frequently experienced in pre-mix drinking systems is substantially reduced or eliminated. It is still a further object of the present invention to provide for a drink dispensing system that occupies less space in establishments than the pre-mix drink dispensing systems of the prior art. These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those with ordinary skill in the art upon reading of this description accompanied by the appended drawings.